Online Safety for LGBTQ+ Young People

A spectrum can be a useful way to start thinking about gender: man on one end and woman on the other, with a wide array of identities between the binary. But even a spectrum, wide as it can be, becomes reductive when you consider how complex human beings are.  Though the gender spectrum and nonbinary identities recently broke through to the mainstream, human history tells us that we have been wrestling with these ideas forever. Pre-colonial and Indigenous understandings of gender are far more fluid, complex, than post-colonial roles of “man” and “woman.” In fact, there exists a community of…

For many young people, being an athlete is a major source of pride, community, and accomplishment. That’s why it’s important for major athletic associations to have policies in place that provide inclusion and opportunities for LGBTQ athletes to participate and excel in their sport of choice. And while nearly one in three LGBTQ young people reported participating in sports, many choose not to partake due to LGBTQ-based discrimination, like state-level policies and legislation that imply, intentionally or not, that inclusion of transgender athletes ruins a sport’s “fairness.” Any blanket ban that prevents trans athletes from participating in sports they love…